With a disruptive Parliament session and its own failure to make the right moves to ensure the passage of the Bill regarding the much-touted Indira Gandhi National University for Women in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli, the Centre now plans to push it through an Ordinance.
Sources said that ahead of Sonia’s arrival in her Parliamentary constituency on Monday, the HRD Ministry was under immense pressure from the PMO to complete formalities for bringing an Ordinance proposal in the Cabinet meeting likely to be held on Thursday. The Cabinet could be the last in UPA-II before the model code of conduct comes into effect. Official sources said with the buzz about election dates likely to be announced by this weekend there was a race against time.
The Indira Gandhi National University for Women Bill, 2013 was one of the 10 legislations of the HRD Ministry that lapsed with the end of the 15th lok Sabha. The Ministry had accorded it very low priority during the Winter Session in December. The Bill was listed for the last day of the extended winter session in lok Sabha on February 21 but could not be taken up.
The Ministry could get only one bill related to converting an institute into an institute of national importance in West Bengal (Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology-IIEST), which was being backed by President Pranab Mukherjee. With the Bill for Women’s University stuck and HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju’s own pre-occupation with post-Telangana affairs leading to his off and on visits to Delhi, Ministry officials are under immense pressure to meet the Cabinet deadline.
The estimated expenditure for setting up the proposed University to provide higher education and research facilities to women, especially those from disadvantaged sections cutting across social and religious categories, to enter into higher education during the 12th Plan is pegged at `500 crore.